Naruto ZX
by guardsmansparky
Summary: Ancient warriors from an age long past will help Naruto become the strongest ninja the Elemental Nations have ever seen. But will ancient evils long forgotten destroy all that one holds dear?
1. Chapter 1

October tenth. It was a dark day for the ninja village of Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. On what should have been a happy day, for the Fourth Hokage, the leader of the ninja village, was due to become a father for the first time. However, in an act of pure evil and insanity, a masked man had threatened the newborn child and kidnapped the mother while the Hokage, one Minato Namikaze, teleported away with the child to escape several explosives planted on the newborn. By the time the Hokage found his wife, it was too late. For Kushina Uzumaki was a Jinchuuriki, a demon container, and weakened by childbirth was easy pickings for anyone to release the demon held within.

Minato arrived, only to bear witness to the release of the legendary Kyuubi no Yoko, the nine-tailed fox, king of the tailed beasts and possibly the most powerful demon in existence, said to be able to create tsunamis and bring down mountain ranges with a swing of a single massive tail. Cackling maniacally, the masked madman hypnotized and ordered the Kyuubi to destroy Konoha, while he dealt with the 'nuisance' before him.

In a battle between equals, it is said that a conflict will be decided quickly or will become a test of endurance. In this battle between madman and beloved leader, the old saying was proven correct. As quickly as the madman had seemingly materialized inside the maternity ward, the battle was decided when Minato managed to disrupt the hypnosis holding the Kyuubi and wound the madman badly enough to cause him to flee the field of battle, cursing the Namikaze name all the while.

However, the battle to save Konoha was far from over. Hurt by the forced extraction from its host and disoriented by the broken hypnosis, the Kyuubi lashed out at everything around it, inadvertently continuing the destruction and chaos it had been ordered to create. Freeing his wife from her restraints, who through some miracle had survived having her soul nearly torn from her body, the Hokage and Kushina returned to their home. Bidding a tearful farewell to their newborn, Minato and Kushina donned the blue and red armors that they had earned the names of the Yellow Flash and the Red Death in. Leaving their child with one of Minato's trusted students, the Red Death and the Yellow Flash went to defeat the rampaging Bijuu in the forests outside the village before it could actually step foot within its walls.

Sadly, it was not to be. The sentient mass of pure chakra, the very lifeforce of all living things, was too powerful to defeat. With a heavy heart, the Fourth Hokage was forced to do the unthinkable: sacrificing his own child to stop the beast. Despite her initial refusal, Kushina eventually realized that there was no other way, and held down the Kyuubi with powerful chakra chains while Minato retrieved their child and prepared the ritual to seal the Bijuu into their baby.

The ritual, one that would take the life of the user, was nearly complete when the Kyuubi noticed the sealing circle and the small infant in the center. The Kyuubi, in its delirium, struck out at the sleeping baby with a single massive claw. The Hokage attempted to stop the Kyuubi by summoning Gamabunta, a towering toad the size of the Kyuubi itself. However, Gamabunta, the leader of the toad summons clan, was unable to fully stop the attack. In their desperation, Minato and Kushina threw themselves between their baby and the Kyuubi…

~NZX~

Minato gasped and coughed up blood as he looked down at the claw that had pierced through the blue armor he wore. Turning his head, he looked over his shoulder at his wife. "Heh, looks like we've both had the same idea."

Kushina smiled, a trickle of blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth. "If a father can do the job, a mother can do it better."

Smiling, Minato ran through a few hand seals to mold his chakra and summoned a small toad that appeared to be wearing an obi. "Wah? Minato, Kushina, what's going on?"

Minato smiled sadly at the toad. "Gerotora, I need you to take the key to the seal I'm placing on my daughter. As it stands, I don't have the energy left to seal the Kyuubi in its entirety into her."

The claw of the Kyuubi withdrew as it tried to move for a second attempt at the sleeping blonde baby, dropping Minato and Kushina on either side of the infant. Gerotora looked from the massive fox struggling with his clan leader to Minato. "I understand." Without another word, the toad lengthened into a large, blank scroll.

Smiling sadly, Minato touched one hand to his daughter's stomach and the other to the empty scroll, whispering one word. "Seal."

The Kyuubi screamed, a deafening, ear splitting shriek as it was absorbed into the seals on the baby's stomach. As the giant fox shrunk, a wise and kind voice seemed to come from Minato's armor. _"What about the other half of the fox's chakra?"_

Minato sighed tiredly. "I-I don't know. I was going to seal it into myself, but I'm not so sure that'll work anymore."

A gruff, cynical voice emitted from Kushina's destroyed red armor. _"Use us. We have more than enough capacity to hold a quarter of its total chakra each."_

The first voice seemed to consider this for a moment. _"Yes, though we would have to leave you and bond with the child. If you do this, you'll die, so are you sure of this course of action?"_

Minato nodded. "We're already dying, not even you two can stop that."

The voice sighed. _"Very well."_

The other voice spoke up. _"What are you going to call the child?"_

Kushina lifted up her head to watch the shrieking Kyuubi as it started to lose its form. "Naruto."

"Honey," Minato started. "I know we agreed to that before, but we believed we were going to have a boy…"

Kushina shook her head. "I don't care."

Minato sighed. "Fine, Naruto it is."

"_We're ready for the transfer."_

"_Yeah, c'mon, let's get it over with."_

Minato removed his one hand from Gerotora as he returned to the summons realm and held it out in the air. "Alri*cough*alright, go ahead."

Kushina and Minato's armor glowed with a soft white light, shattering into innumerable fragments to form two glowing balls of light that floated before Minato's outstretched hand. "Seal." With that whispered command, the rest of the Kyuubi's remaining chakra was siphoned into the two glowing orbs. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the Kyuubi was completely gone.

Minato looked at his daughter, taking in the six whisker marks burned into her cheeks by the Kyuubi's presence in her body before looking to the two orbs. "You guys will take care of her for us, right?"

"_Of course we're gonna take care of her, what kind of guardians do you take us for?"_ The reddish orb shook with indignity.

The bluish orb seemed to calm the red one. _"It will take some time to repair ourselves and assimilate the Bijuu's energies at the same time, however, so we won't be able to help her for the beginning. We will be able to speak with her and give her advice from time to time though."_

Kushina sighed. "That's good enough for me." She moved to hold her baby close. "Hey baby girl. I want you to be a good girl for whoever ends up taking care of you. Always listen to what your two big brothers tell you, even if you won't be able to see them for awhile. Eat your vegetables, don't go anywhere or accept anything from strange people. If you get a boyfriend, make sure he's not a pervert. And remember…your father and I will always love you, no matter what, my little Fishcake."

Minato chuckled. "Listen to your motor-mouth mother, okay? Make sure that Kakashi doesn't spend all his time moping by the memorial stone like he likes to do. And be nice to him, he'll be taking care of you from now on." He held his wife and his baby girl. "Goodbye…Naruto…" As Minato and Kushina passed on with smiles on their faces, the two orbs floated down to touch the seal on the sleeping baby, integrating themselves into her body before going into stasis for repairs.

Silence reigned as Gamabunta looked on with sadness before returning to his home, leaving the two smiling bodies cradling a sleeping blonde baby. Such was the scene a masked jounin with gravity-defying silver hair and one eye covered came upon. "Oh, sensei…"

A small triangular shape the size of a small apple floated up next to him before it spoke with a high, child-like voice. _"They're gone…"_

The jounin approached the bodies. "What about…?"

"_They're there, but they seem to be in stasis, probably needed repairs from the looks of things, Kakashi…"_

Kakashi gently picked up the sleeping baby girl, taking in the complex, black seal on her stomach that was already fading to invisibility. "Do you know what they named her?"

The arrowhead bobbed in an approximation of a nod. _"I heard them say 'Naruto.'"_

Kakashi smiled under his facemask. "She'll grow up to be a beautiful maelstrom, won't she?" Kakashi turned to make his way back to Konoha. "Don't worry sensei, I'll take care of her for you…I'll turn her into a ninja that would make you proud."

~NZX~

…_Twelve years later…_

"Yea ha ha, you'll never take me alive!"

"Get back here, you brat!"

A blond, pigtailed thirteen-year old girl wearing blue shorts and a red muscle shirt cackled maniacally as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop as she was chased by what seemed to be half of Konoha's home-guard. The reason? Somehow, Naruto, for that is who this little girl was, had managed to paint the Hokage Monument with the faces of every past and present Hokage overlooking the village in broad daylight. What was even more astonishing was that she had managed to paint every single square inch of the monument with life-accurate paint before anyone had noticed. She had been tempted to paint swirls and other rude and obnoxious things on the stone faces, but had decided that painting the faces to give them the colors they had in life would last longer as a testament to her skills. For some reason though, the people of Konoha didn't seem to like the additions to their monument.

Perhaps it was the fact that her Jinchuuriki status had been leaked to the population despite the S-Class secrecy law forbidding talking about the Kyuubi's true fate, and that a vast majority of the civilians thought she was the fox itself. Fortunately, the majority of the shinobi populace understood the basics of fuuinjutsu, or sealing techniques, and treated her kindly, often going out of their way to protect her from irate or drunk civilians and getting things for her from the shops that would overcharge her or refuse her service. This didn't protect them from Naruto's pranks, though.

Naruto grinned behind the half-face mask she wore to hide her whisker marks as she approached her destination. Leaping through the window, Naruto landed in her shinobi academy classroom, leaving the entire classroom astonished. For one, Naruto had just jumped through the _second story_ window, and second, there was already a Naruto sitting in her assigned seat, one that waved at the newcomer before disappearing in cloud of smoke. Naruto jumped into her seat just as her pursuers leapt through the window after her.

Iruka Umino, a chuunin teacher with a scar going horizontally across the bridge of his nose, sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "What did she do this time?"

One of the shinobi, a chuunin, or journeyman ninja, pointed out the window at the Hokage monument as he tried to catch his breath. Iruka couldn't help but applaud the quality of the paintjob. He waved off the seething ninja. "Alright guys, I'll take it from here."

After the grumbling ninja left, Iruka crossed his arms at the bane of his existence as a teacher. Sure, he liked the kid, but she was such a handful. "Naruto, what was that in your seat while you were off painting the monument to look lifelike?"

Naruto grinned, a foxy-looking thing that made several guys, who remembered the last time they received that look, protect their little ninjas. "Shadow clone."

Iruka blinked several times. "That's a forbidden technique."

Naruto shrugged. "Big bro Kakashi taught it to me when we found out I have too much chakra for regular clones. The Old Man said it was ok."

"Old man?" Iruka raised an eyebrow. Naruto responded by raising three fingers and pointing out the window. "Oh. Very well then, what was I talking about before you…came in to class?"

Naruto cleared her throat. "You were giving a lecture on the Red Death, known for her red armor of unknown origin and the Fourth Hokage, also known as the Yellow Flash, for the use of the Flying Thunder God jutsu, and the Blue Bomber, for the blue armor of unknown origin he used. You were also saying how their armor disappeared the night of the Kyuubi attack." Naruto sat with a smug smile at the incredulous look on Iruka's and her classmates' faces. _Oh yeah, I know all about mommy and daddy. I'm glad big bro told me about them. Just wish I knew what happened to their armors. _ Her face contorted with irritation. _ I know why the Old Man didn't tell the village about my parents 'cause of their enemies, but did he seriously think I shouldn't know myself? *sigh* Adults can be such idiots sometimes._ She listened to the rest of the lecture in silence, contemplating the possible reasons for the apparent rise of idiocy amongst the civilians. Her musings were interrupted when Iruka made an announcement.

"Alright, not bad for a day of classes. Now remember, the genin graduation exam is tomorrow, so make sure you're here. _On time_." That last part seemed to be aimed at Naruto. "Dismissed. I'll see you all tomorrow." Naruto jumped out the open window to prepare for her test, the last chance she had to become a ninja like her big brother.

~NZX~

The next day saw a grinning Naruto leaving the academy with a Konoha ninja forehead protector. She couldn't wait to tell her big brother and show it to him. "Big brother, look, I passed!"

Kakashi smiled at her with his one visible eye. "That's great! I knew you had it in you. Let's go to Ichiraku's to celebrate. I'll let you eat as much as you want today, no five bowl limit."

"Really?" Kakashi nodded. Naruto squeed in happiness and gave Kakashi a surprisingly rub-crushing hug for her age. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"

Kakashi eye-smiled again. "Well, let's go, shall we?"

Mizuki, a chuunin instructor at the academy and one of the graduation test proctors, watched the young blonde jumping around the silver haired jounin with a scowl. Damn that girl. He didn't know she knew an alternate clone jutsu. Now he didn't have anyone to patsy into stealing the forbidden scroll of sealing. If he couldn't get it to his 'benefactor,' he was royally screwed. He was about to throw a paperweight across the room when an idea hit him. Oh yes, that would work perfectly. Mizuki smiled deviously as he made plans for the night.

~NZX~

Naruto made her way home alone from Ichiraku's after saying goodbye to the owner Teuchi and his daughter Ayame. She had always liked their company, as they had always treated her nicely and never tried overcharging her like some civilian stores had.

As she walked along, Naruto wondered how Kakashi's jounin meeting with the Third Hokage, who had come out of retirement after her father's untimely death, was going. A flash of movement caught the corner of her eye, making her turn to see…herself?

"I don't have any shadow clones out right now. What's going on?" Noticing that the lookalike seemed to be carrying something, Naruto followed her doppelganger into an old forested training ground that looked to not have been used for some time. Hiding in a tree, Naruto watched as the Döppelgänger dropped a henge, revealing himself to be Mizuki in disguise. Before Naruto could confront him, however, she saw Iruka Umino jump into the clearing and confront the traitor. After a heated exchange that Naruto couldn't hear, Mizuki and Iruka began to fight.

It wasn't long before Iruka found himself bloodied and pinned to the side of an old shack that was off to the side of the old training ground. Iruka looked up in time to watch his once best friend pull out a large demon windmill shuriken. The sneer on his face was burned into Iruka's mind as the traitor let the shuriken loose. He closed his eyes and waited for the end.

*THUNK*

_Thunk?_ Iruka opened his eyes to find Naruto in front of him, the windmill shuriken imbedded in the tree Naruto had been in, the freshly minted genin having used the kawarimi, or body switching technique, to trade places with the shuriken in mid flight.

Mizuki was shocked to see a mere genin do a replacement with a rapidly moving object, a feat even chuunin and some jounin have trouble doing reliably. As he stared into the frigid blue depths of her normally bright, warm cerulean eyes, Mizuki couldn't help but think that he had screwed up somehow. He needed to demoralize her. Perhaps confronting the demon child with what she was would do the trick.

"Do you know why you're hated by the village?"

Naruto had a feeling she knew where this was going, but decided to humor the traitor for a moment. "Why?"

Iruka pulled against the kunai and shuriken pinning himself to the shack. "DON'T MIZUKI, IT'S FORBIDDEN!"

Mizuki carried on like he hadn't even heard him. "Twelve years ago, the Fourth Hokage defeated the Kyuubi no Yoko, but he didn't kill it. He sealed it into a little girl. He sealed it into you! YOU ARE THE KYUUBI NO YOKO! YOU ARE THE NINE-TAILED FOX!" Mizuki gave off a demented laugh, only for it to die away in confusion as the look of horror and despair he expected to be on Naruto's blank face was absent.

Naruto rubbed her temples and turned to Iruka. "Iruka-sensei, is there something in the water around here, or is a majority of the village retarded?" Iruka could only blink in surprise before shrugging. Naruto shook her head before returning her attention to Mizuki. "For your information, I already knew about daddy giving me the fox."

Mizuki was too busy fuming to really comprehend what Naruto had said. Iruka on the other hand… _Daddy? What did she mean by…well holy shit...why the hell didn't I see this before?_ He was so caught up in his thoughts about the revelation that he almost missed Mizuki having the crap beat out of his by several hundred pissed off shadow clones. He stared in amazement as Naruto left the twitching traitor lying there as she started to pull out the various kunai and shuriken keeping him pinned to the wall.

"Naruto, did you say your father was…?"

Naruto nodded. "Yup, but don't tell anyone until me or the Old Man tell everybody. It's a secret for a reason."

"You…BITCH!"

Naruto turned around in time to see Mizuki stagger to his feet and pull out a small vial. Popping the cork, he downed the contents in a single gulp and tossed the now empty vial off to the side. Naruto and Iruka watched in horror as Mizuki's body began to swell and bulge, tearing his clothes as orange fur grew out of his exposed skin. His nails grew, turning black as they hardened into claws. His face bulged out into a muzzle as his canines and the rest of his teeth became sharper and longer. A striped tail burst out of the back of his tattered pants, completing the look of an anthropomorphic tiger. He leered evilly at the two before him.

"I have the power to finish you off, bitch. You're done."

Before Naruto could react, Mizuki was in her face, and then she was airborne, and then nestled in a body shaped indentation in a tree trunk. Iruka tried to move, but he was still stuck to the wall.

"Leave her alone Mizuki!"

The monster that used to be Mizuki patted Iruka's cheek. "Don't you worry your little head now, it'll be your turn soon enough." Iruka could only watch in horror as Mizuki pulled Naruto from the hole she made in the tree and proceeded to thrash her back and forth across the clearing.

Naruto crashed into a large rock, collapsing in a heap between Mizuki and Iruka. She tried to get up and move, get help, fight back, but then everything seemed to get very far away.

"_Hey!"_

Naruto swam back into consciousness. Was she hearing things? She could have sworn she heard a very grumpy voice that had little patience for fools.

"_Are you okay?" _Nope, now it was kind and patient. Was she hearing the Kyuubi? Was the seal weakening from the trauma she was going through?

"_Kid, we aren't the Kyuubi, but if you keep making asinine comments in here, I might just wake the furball up."_

Naruto was getting scared. _Who are you?_

The kind voice answered her. _"There's no time for that right now. What would you do if you had power?"_

"_Would you use it for petty reasons and revenge?"_

"_Or would you use it to protect and serve?"_

Naruto instantly knew what to say. _Protect and serve. _She had a feeling that the two presences she now felt in her head approved of her answer.

"_We find you worthy of our power."_

"_Use it wisely."_

Naruto eyed the lazily approaching Mizuki warily. _How do I use your power?_ A small flash of light dropped two hexagonal objects the size of small apples into her hands. One was blue, with a red gem above a small white representation of a face. The other was black, with red horns surrounding a green gem set above a white representation of a face with a long, white, blade-like goatee outgrowth.

"_To use our power, just hold us and yell out 'Double Megamerge.'"_

_Well, it sounds silly, but I'll do it._

Mizuki was savoring the moment. He would finally be rid of the demon-bitch and once he had delivered the scroll to his benefactor outside the village, the same one who had given him the serum that had granted him his power boost, and he would be set for life. He watched with amusement as Naruto struggled to get to her feet. "So, bitch, any last words?"

Naruto held her hands out in front of her. "Just…one…DOUBLE MEGAMERGE!"

A bright light enveloped Naruto.

"_Biolink established. M.E.G.A. System, online."_

"_Biolink established. M.E.G.A. System, online."_

Naruto's clothes melted over her body, becoming a formfitting black bodysuit. She held her arms out to the side as she floated into the air. Red gauntlets formed over her forearms, with a golden-yellow portion covering the back of her hands. A set of red armored boots with thick black soles with a golden-yellow ring supporting her ankles formed up to her knees, followed by white armor plating forming on her thighs and a white codpiece forming at her hips. A red flak jacket materialized on her torso, unzipped. Finally, a red finned helmet with a black top materialized on her head, two short, white spikes protruding from the cheeks. A green, gem-like structure began to form between the fins, taking an arrow shape as it briefly glowed with power. Naruto's hair burst out a hole in the back of the helmet in 9 separate strands before it coiled up into a single sunkissed-yellow ponytail. As the light started to fade, a white plated weapon vaguely reminiscent of a crossbow without the leaves materialized in her hand.

This all happened in less than a second, but to Naruto, it was as if she had been bathed in warmth for ages.

Mizuki recoiled from the power radiating off of Naruto. Iruka stared in amazement. _Is-is the Kyuubi getting free? No, no, it doesn't have that oppressive feel to it, it feels more…pure than that._

Mizuki snorted, throwing his trepidation to the four winds. "You think a fancy wardrobe change will help you, girly? You don't have a chance!"

Naruto slid into a firing stance and leveled her weapon at Mizuki. Light started to gather at the end facing him.

"You think a little light show's gonna scare me!?"

Naruto let her weapon answer for her, firing off a ball of burning energy at the traitor. Seeing the oncoming ball of death, Mizuki tried to dodge, only managing to avoid the plasma blast at the cost of some fur and several layers of skin.

Roaring in rage, Mizuki charged the armored girl. "You bitch! I'm going to kill you!"

Naruto held the weapon out to the side, and to Iruka's surprise, the weapon shifted as a triangular beam of energy was emitted from the end, forming a long arrowhead-shaped blade. Moving into a stance that Iruka didn't recognize, Naruto blitzed forward. Mizuki and the blonde teen passed each other and came to a stop. Naruto stood up straight and flourished the sword as a red line across his chest caused Mizuki to start sliding apart. "H-how?" From his vantage point pinned against the wooden shack, Iruka saw that the exposed flesh somehow seemed like it wasn't organic anymore in the brief instant before the falling traitor's two halves glowed.

Iruka turned his face away as a large explosion filled the clearing. Naruto smiled as she closed her eyes, falling to her knees. Exhausted as the armor dissipated, the young genin fell into sweet unconsciousness as a familiar form landed before her prone figure.

"So, they've finally woken up, huh?" Kakashi picked Naruto up in a bridal position, her head resting against his shoulder. "I'm proud of you, little sister. You did good. Now c'mon, let's get you home and patched up, shall we?" Kakashi left the clearing, pausing to pick up the forbidden scroll of sealing on the way.

…

…

…

…

"…Um…A little help?"


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto found herself in a white void. The last thing she could remember was—"Oh Kami, I died and went to heaven!"

"Oh, I highly doubt it."

Naruto spun around to find two armored figures standing before her. One was adorned in blue armor with a red gem embedded in the front of the open-faced helmet. His warm blue eyes shone with kindness and understanding, speaking of wisdom beyond mortal years. Despite his apparent lack of weaponry and his peaceful demeanor, his posture and poise promised pain to those who would bring harm to others. This, was a warrior, one who had surpassed all others.

The other was adorned in dark-red armor, the color of fresh arterial blood. The horn-finned helmet had a triangular green gem embedded above the open face. His icy blue eyes were hard and piercing, yet underneath the cold and unforgiving exterior was deeply buried regret. A white sword hilt with no blade was hanging from his hip. His posture spoke of an eternity of battle and warfare, and the willingness to sacrifice everything for the welfare of others. Long golden hair spilled from the back of the helmet, flowing in a nonexistent breeze. This was a predator, from which no one was safe once he began his hunt.

Naruto frowned under her mask, trying to gauge if the two before her were a threat. "W-who are you?"

The man in blue put a hand to his chest. "We are Biometals, artificial constructs created with the abilities and memories of ancient heroes. I am Model X, and this," Model X gestured to his companion. "Is Model Z."

Seeing the nonplussed look in Naruto's eyes, Model Z sighed. "In layman's terms, we're living armor."

"Cool. Wait." Naruto looked closely at Models X and Z. She recalled her recent lessons on the Red Death and Yellow Flash. "Did…did you know my parents? Were you their armor, the ones that were lost?"

Model X nodded. "We did and we were. We were bonded to them for quite some time."

Naruto nearly jumped for joy. "And I have both of you?"

"Indeed." Model Z turned to Model X. "It has been some time since we have been linked to the same person, hasn't it?"

"Yes, the last were Aile and Vent, was it not?"

Naruto blinked. "Who?"

X shook his head. "A tale for another time. I will say that they were your very distant ancestors, though."

Something occurred to Naruto. "If you're here, then where's the fox? ...And where is here, exactly?"

Z chuckled. "Well, we're currently in your mind, kid. As for your first question, the big carpet is still sleeping from what your old man and woman did to it when they stuck it in here."

Naruto looked down, her eyes suddenly hidden in the shadow of her bangs as she hugged herself. "Did they…love me?" It was almost a whisper. X and Z shared a look. Z nodded to Naruto with a prompting expression trained on X.

X walked up to the suddenly downtrodden girl. Taking a knee before her, he put a hand on her shoulder. "Why would you ask that?"

"'Cause sometimes I hear the villagers ask 'how could anybody love a demon,' or 'the demon's parents must've hated her.'" Model X sighed sadly while Z began to grumble about 'idiot civilians' and something about cups and water, and scrolls and kunai.

"Naruto, you were all they thought about. They threw themselves in front of the fox when it tried to attack you. Their last request was that we protect and guide you." X took his hand off Naruto's shoulder and lifted up her masked chin. "Their last words to you were a message of love and hope."

Naruto wiped the tears threatening to flow away. "They really loved me?" X and Z nodded.

Z walked up to stand next to X. "We would have been with you sooner, but fixing the damage done by the fuzzball took longer than we thought it would."

Naruto nodded. She understood that not everyone healed as quickly as she did. "Can you tell me about them? Mom and Dad, I mean?"

X shook his head with a kind smile. "Later. Right now, it's time for you to wake up."

"When you do," Model Z put a hand on Naruto's head. "There'll be something for you to use when you're not armored up." He took a step back. "We're going to be training you later, got it?"

Naruto nodded.

"Great, we'll see you later, kid."

Model X straightened up and stood next to Z. "Take care."

Naruto raised her hand to wave goodbye, and everything faded to white.

~NZX~

Naruto opened her eyes to find herself staring into the one visible eye of her guardian and unofficial big brother, Kakashi Hatake. He gave her his trademarked eyesmile. "Oh, good, you're finally up." He helped his little sister sit up. "So, are you okay?" He offered her a bowl of freshly made ramen.

Naruto accepted the bowl, pulling down her mask to eat, revealing the whisker-marks on her cheek. "I killed Mizuki, didn't I?" Kakashi froze, and then nodded. Naruto sighed. "I should feel bad, but the only thing I feel is glad that I stopped him from hurting Iruka-sensei."

Kakashi looked at Naruto carefully. "That's…very mature of you, Naruto."

She shrugged. "Really, I don't even really remember it. It's just one big blur." Naruto paused to slurp up some noodles. "But he was worse than trash, right?"

A proud smile crossed Kakashi's face. The first thing he'd taught her was, 'those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash.' To his immense pride and joy, the precocious girl had taken the words his sensei, her father, had taught him to heart.

Naruto finished her bowl, possibly the first time she hadn't inhaled ramen like a vacuum cleaner, and looked around, finding herself in her bed in the apartment she shared with Kakashi. "So, how come I'm not in the hospital?"

"There was nothing wrong with you."

"Huh?" She could have sworn she had had several broken ribs.

Kakashi explained for her. "When you first bonded with your parent's armor, it healed you using your already fast recovery time."

Naruto looked pensive. "So you know?"

"I watched them go into you when I found you." Not completely the truth, but not a total lie. But she didn't need to know that yet, did she?

Naruto moved on to her next question. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours. It's just after midnight."

"Oh."

Kakashi smiled as Naruto failed to suppress a yawn. "Now, go back to sleep for now. We'll train you on using the biometal between now and team placement, alright?" He picked up the empty bowl and got up and moved to the door. "Oh, by the way," Kakashi spoke without turning around. "Lord Hokage said that as punishment for painting the monument, you'll be required to paint it again every three months." Smiling at Naruto's nonplussed expression; Kakashi turned off the lights and closed the bedroom door.

Naruto changed into her pajamas and got back into her bed, settling into the pillows. As she drifted off to sleep, she wondered how her big brother knew the word 'biometal,' when she was sure she hadn't said anything about that. Mentally shrugging it off an unimportant, she rolled over and drifted off to sleep.

~NZX~

The days between the genin graduation test and the genin team placements were absolute _hell_ for one Naruto Uzumaki. The days were spent training under Models X and Z and learning how to use the abilities that 'megamode' granted. Not to mention that her hard earned chakra control was completely shot to pieces while in megamode due to the influx of power to Naruto's already formidable reserves. Interestingly, the transformation carried over to any shadow clones made while in megamode. Seeing this, Kakashi had told his adoptive little sister about the secret to shadow clones, though truth be told, she had already figured it out.

Shadow clones had been developed as a scouting technique that sent the memories of the clone back to the original. It was later accidentally discovered that the shadow clone was an excellent training tool. However, the chakra requirements to create a shadow clone were so great that only ninja with high jounin and kage level chakra reserves could make more than one clone, five being the most Hiruzen Sarutobi, the current Hokage had ever made at one time.

That Naruto could create upwards of 500 shadow clones that were combat capable at the tender age of thirteen was quite terrifying. As such, Kakashi had told the girl that under no circumstances was she to train with more than twenty shadow clones at a time. When asked why, the response had been that no one knew exactly what would happen if so many shadow clones dispersed at once. Considering the headache Naruto received when every clone popped at once after eight hours of training, essentially receiving 160 hours of memory at the same time, it was a good bet that until her mind adjusted to the regular inflow of new memories that attempting too many shadow clones would result in a vegetative coma or death. As such, Naruto for once listened very closely to her big brother. Still, if she kept up with the pace of training she had set, she would have the equivalent of a year's training in only two months.

When the day of the team placements came, Naruto could not wait to find out who her teammates would be. She had a new look too. She wore a short-sleeve orange vest that exposed her midriff above a pair of short white shorts. Underneath was worn a black formfitting bodysuit. A pair of black combat boots covered her feet, while a pair of white-fingered black gloves covered her hands. Her long, sun-kissed blonde hair was pulled back in a long ponytail, the bangs kept out of her face with her forehead protector. It was a look belonging to one of her ancestors, a look Naruto had fallen in love with when X and Z had shown her, once she had tweaked it a bit, that is. She decided to forgo the mask she usually wore.

Holstered on Naruto's hip was the ZX-Buster, the weapon she had used against Mizuki. As a saber, it emitted a meter-long, hard-light blade the shape of a long and thin arrowhead. Thinner than even a molecule, the blade could cut through near anything. As a buster, something explained to Naruto as a long-range energy weapon, the ZX-Buster could rapidly fire a stream of weak plasma shots, capable of punching through most defenses with only a few shots. The buster mode could also be charged, firing a massive blast of energy that vaporized most things it hit, passing through multiple targets before dissipating.

The reactions from Naruto's fellow graduates when she walked into the academy classroom were quite amusing to the teen Jinchuuriki. The boys were all left googly-eyed and jaw-dropped. With her face exposed and skintight bodysuit under her clothes, the hormonal teens couldn't help but admire the developing curves of Naruto's body. The girls on the other hand were wondering what Naruto's secret was. Sasuke meanwhile, having been hounded by attractive girls chasing him for most of his life, was more interested in the weapon that was hanging off the blonde's hip.

Smiling foxily, Naruto moved to the back of the room and sat next to her childhood friend, Hinata Hyuuga. The inky-black haired girl took in Naruto's new look, surprise in her pupil less, milky white eyes. Though at first glance blind, Hinata possessed a dojutsu called the Byakugan, the all-seeing eye that allowed her to see virtually 360 degrees around her, as well as through things and the chackra pathways and points of living things. The heiress to the Hyuuga clan lifted an eyebrow. "Um, what's with the new look?"

Naruto smiled at her friend. When they had first met, Hinata had been a stuttering mess due to the pressure placed upon her by her family and the lack of positive feedback. However, after a few years of being around Naruto, Hinata had slowly come out of her shell, though she still wore a baggy jacket that hid her body.

"Oh, no reason, I just figured that since I'm officially a ninja now, I might go ahead and look the part."

Hinata nodded. "Makes sense."

Before either girl could continue with their conversation, a loud rumbling began to shake the room. Naruto groaned and covered her ears. Shortly thereafter, two girls, a blonde and a pinkette by the names of Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno, respectively, came barreling into the classroom at full tilt.

"Ha, I got here first, Pig!"

"No you didn't, Pinky! I did!"

At that point, the two girls began to argue quite loudly over who was going to sit next to Sasuke Uchiha, the last survivor of his clan after his brother massacred them, who at the moment was briefly wondering why his brother couldn't have done him in as well, just to get away from the arguing pair. Naruto could just shake her head.

"Ugh, fangirls." The way Naruto said that word was the same way one might talk about heartworm. Hinata nodded. She couldn't agree more. Naruto turned to her. "What are the odds that they bite the dust their first time outside the village?"

Hinata shook her head. "They give kunoichi a bad name." The two friends, along with a good proportion of the male population of the class stared at the two arguing—

"I'M SITTING NEXT TO SASUKE, PIG!"

"NO! I AM PINKY!"

—shrieking fangirls. It was at this point that Iruka Umino walked into the room. Unable to get a word in edgewise over the shrieking banshees that were fangirls, Iruka flipped through the handsigns that formed his patented 'Big Head Jutsu."

"**SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!**"

To the relief of all present, especially those with sensitive hearing, Ino and Sakura quieted down and sat on either side of a secretly groaning Sasuke. After checking that everyone was present and accounted for, Iruka began to make his announcements. "Ok, first things first, this year's Rookie of the Year goes to Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka once again had to use his Big Head Jutsu to quiet down the fangirls. "The competition for Kunoichi of the Year was a close one, between Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyuuga, and Naruto Uzumaki. Thanks to her higher than average academic scores, Sakura Haruno squeaked ahead to take the title." For some reason, the screaming from Sakura wasn't as loud as when she had been extolling the virtues of 'the Great Sasuke.' Once he had gotten everyone quieted down again, Iruka began to announce the team placements. "Alright, Team 1…"

Naruto spaced out, barely paying any attention to Iruka. "Hey Hinata, who do you think you're gonna be teamed up with?"

"Well," Hinata bit her lip. "I don't know, but I hope you're one of my teammates."

"Team 7 will consist of Sasuke Uchiha…"

"Hn."

"Sakura Haruno.." Sakura began to screech some drivel about true love conquering all. "And Naruto Uzumaki."

*THUD!*

At the last name, Naruto slammed her head against her desk as Hinata rubbed her back in condolence while Sakura began spouting about how she wasn't going to be sharing 'her Sasuke' with 'that blonde bimbo,' never mind the fact that Naruto had never once shown any interest in the raven-haired boy. Heck, he had the hairstyle of a duck's backside. Eventually all of the teams were announced, and one by one, every team was collected by their jounin senseis. All but Team 7 that is.

After Iruka left, it wasn't long before before Sakura began to spew about how great Sasuke was, how Naruto never had a chance with him, and generally complaining about how their sensei was late in a high pitched voice. Sasuke was barely able to hear himself think, sneaking glances at the weapon on Naruto's hip. '_I don't recognize what kind of weapon that is. It seems to be a projectile weapon, though.'_ A particularly loud shriek from Sakura made him wince slightly. '_Maybe I can get Naruto to shoot me with it, put me out of my misery…'_

Sighing, Naruto got out of her seat and went to head out the door.

"Hey idiot! Where're you going? We need to wait here for our jounin sensei!"

Naruto rolled her eyes at the pinkette. "I gotta go use the toilet. Is that alright with you, _mom_?" Leaving a sputtering Sakura and a silently chortling Sasuke behind, Naruto walked down the hall. Passing the restrooms by, Naruto instead went up to the roof. Exiting the door onto the roof, Naruto went and sat down next to the figure leaning against the railing with a book in hand.

"So, how long you gonna make them wait?"

Kakashi turned a page of his orange-covered book titled Make-Out Paradise. "Oh, I don't know. How does two hours sound to you?"

Shrugging, Naruto unzipped her jacket and pulled out her own book, A Tale of a Gutsy Shinobi. Flipping to her marked page, Naruto resumed her reading. After awhile, she spoke up.

"You know, this is much better than the smut you like to read."

Kakashi idly flipped a page. "You do realize that the same guy, Jiraiya of the Three Sages wrote your book as well as the Make-Out series?"

Naruto chuckled. "Doesn't matter, he's still a pervert. And you're lucky I love you and am used to your habits big bro, otherwise I'd be more inclined to pull a Kurenai on you."

Kakashi shuddered at the recollection of what Kurenai Yuuhi, a fellow Konoha jounin known as 'the Genjutsu Mistress' had done to him the last time she saw him reading his books in public. Might Guy in spandex was one thing, barely tolerable, but Might Guy in frilly women's lingerie was the stuff of nightmares. He still sometimes woke up in a cold sweat at night.

About an hour later Kakashi closed his book with a sigh. "Well, looks like they didn't even bother looking for you. So much for the 'Rookie of the Year' and 'Kunoichi of the Year,' eh?"

"Mm-hm."

Kakashi pushed himself off the railing. "Well, time to go get them." Naruto merely 'hmm'ed again and flipped a page as Kakashi went inside. Before long, Kakshi returned with a garbage spewing Sakura and a brooding Sasuke. Sitting them down across from himself and Naruto at the railings, Kakashi had them introduce themselves.

"How should we do it, Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi eyed Sakura. _'I thought she's supposed to be smart?'_

"Oh, you know, your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, that sort of thing."

Sakura raised her hand. "Why don't you go first, sensei?" Naruto rolled her eyes behind her book.

Kakashi sighed. "Alright, I'm Kakashi Hatake. Likes…I like a lot of things. Dislikes…well, I dislike a lot. Hobbies…I have lots of those. Dreams…I had one last night." Naruto giggled silently at the incredulous looks on her teammates' faces. Kakashi turned to Naruto. "Naruto, why don't you go next?"

Naruto closed her book. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. There's a lot that I like, but there's not a lot that I don't. I share hobbies with my big brother. As for my dreams, well, I've only been saying what it is for the past few years." Sasuke and Sakura sweatdropped. _'We only learned their names. What gives?'_

Kakshi smiled in pride. "Alright pinky, your turn."

Sakura cleared her throat. "My name is Sakura Haruno. My likes…*squee!* My dislikes; Naruto and Ino!"

Naruto flipped a page of her book nonchalantly. "Feelings mutual."

Sakura glared at Naruto before continuing. "My hobbies…*squee* My dreams…" She looked at Sasuke and gave an ear piercing squeal.

Kakashi blinked and wiggled a finger around in his ear before addressing Sasuke. "All-right, duck-butt, your turn."

Sasuke scowled, but answered nonetheless. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There's not much I like, and a lot I dislike. I don't have any hobbies…not anymore. My dream—no, my ambition is to kill a certain man."

Kakashi shook his head. _'Great. A fangirl and a broody avenger. Looks like I have my work cut out for me, huh?'_

"_Yep."_

Naruto eyed Kakashi carefully. She could have sworn she heard a second voice coming from her big brother. When she didn't hear anything else, she shrugged and went back to her book as Kakashi told her teammates about the second genin test. Needless to say, they were not happy. After getting an irate Sakura to calm down, Kakashi gave instructions. "Now, we'll be having the test at six tomorrow morning in training ground 7. Bring your gear and weapons, anything goes." Kakashi got up to leave before something came to mind. "Oh and don't eat anything if you don't want to throw up." With that, Kakashi disappeared using the body flicker technique.

Naruto stood up and put her book away. _'You guys mind if I get some ramen before we get to training?'_

Within Naruto's mindscape, now a lush and verdant forest, Model X shrugged as Model Z groaned at their partner's addiction to 'the food of the gods.' Sighing in resignation, Z looked upwards. _"Fine, but were working you extra hard tonight, understood?"_

Smiling in anticipation, Naruto turned to her teammates. "Hey, you guys want to go get something to eat?"

Sasuke didn't really respond positively or negatively, just giving one of his trademarked grunts. Sakura turned her nose up at the blonde and said she had better things to do. Shrugging, Naruto left for her favorite ramen stand using her custom body flicker, disappearing in a blue flash of chakra to emulate the transponder beams of ages past.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto arrived at Training Ground 7 shortly before her team was due to meet for their genin test. Sitting in a tree, she leaned against the trunk as Models X and Z manifested their physical forms. She looked at the two hexagonal objects floating before her.

"So, how do you guys suppose we should go about this test?"

Model X turned with a synthesized 'hmm' as he observed Sasuke walk into the training ground with a very-well hidden look of suffering as he was followed by a love-sick Sakura. _"I can't really say. However, Kakashi Hatake is a jounin and a former ANBU Black Ops captain. As such, his skills and experience are far beyond that of any prospective genin who has yet to be outside of the village on a mission. Therefore, if you, and by extension we, are to pass this test, we will have to procure the cooperation of your teammates."_

Model Z seemed to wince as Sakura's latest rant about how their sensei and teammate were late reached a pitch most commonly used for dog whistles. '_Why don't people ever look up?'_ _"That may pose a problem. Sakura is a fangirl, the worst case of which I have ever seen, and that's saying something. From my observations, she is unlikely to listen to anything you say or acknowledge anything you do unless it is told or given to her by the object of her obsession. In this case, Sasuke Uchiha._

"_As for Sasuke Uchiha, while he is more likely to listen to you, he seems to think that others will just slow him down. As such, unless you can convince him that teaming up will benefit him in some way, he is also unlikely to assist you."_

Naruto and X stared at Z for a bit. Had X any eyebrows, he was sure one would be cocked. _"Wow, Zero, I never thought you had it in you."_

Z bobbed up and down in a semblance of a shrug. _"Hey, you hang around a scientist for a few years, you tend to pick up a few things."_

"Hey, Model Z." Model Z turned to face Naruto. "How come Model X called you 'Zero?'"

"_Well, that's my name."_

"Wha-?"

"_What, you didn't think 'Model Z' was my name, did ya? No, that's just what I am: Biometal Model Z."_

"Oh." Naruto turned to Model X. "So~, what's your name then?"

"_X."_

Naruto blinked. "Seriously? Why X?"

"_Well,"_ X seemed to grow distant. _"In a mathematical formula, the variable 'x' has the potential to be anything, even another variable. As such, when my father, my creator built me as the first robot with true free will, he named me 'X' to represent, as he put it, my unlimited potential. Also, my VES, or Variable Energy System, allowed me to copy the unique weapons used by any enemy. Unfortunately, with the loss of my original body and the conversion into a Biometal, I no longer had a strong enough power source necessary to access it."_

Naruto considered this before turning back to Zero. "So, why were you named Zero?"

Zero again bobbed in a shrug. _"Dunno, can't remember. What I can remember though is that the guy who created me was a certifiable wacko hell-bent on outdoing X's father, getting people to recognize his genius, and possibly achieving world domination, but that last one was never really clear." _

X nodded. _"He was a wily old coot, I'll give him that. But, shouldn't we be getting back on the subject of how to prepare for Kakashi's test?"_

Naruto nodded. They spent the next hour planning out what to do, how to take on her big brother, what the test might be, and how to get her prospective teammates to work together with her. However, since neither Naruto nor the biometals knew what the test would be, although X had several good ideas as to what the test would be, the simple matter of the fact was that they did not have enough information to create an intricate plan. As such, planning soon gave way to observing Naruto's teammates.

It wasn't long before Naruto got bored of watching Sasuke stand in one place brooding as Sakura stomped back and forth while whining about how late their sensei was. "This is so sad, they haven't done anything to prepare for the test. I mean, they haven't even set up any traps."

Zero seemed to look askew at his chosen one, as those possessing biometal were known. _"Neither have you."_

Naruto snorted. "That's only because I know big brother would find any traps I placed ahead of time, that's why I'm waiting till the test starts." A particularly shrill shriek of impatience and indignity of having to wait on their teacher and teammate from Sakura made Naruto wince in pain. "…She's going to get us killed one of these days. I mean really, if this was a mission, half the country would know where we are…. They haven't even noticed that I'm here yet."

X floated down to perch in Naruto's hand. _"To be fair, you are able to successfully hide from full-fledged ANBU operatives quite easily. The only ones who can consistently find you are Kakashi and your teacher, Iruka."_

Naruto nodded. "Oh, I know, but I'm not even trying to hide right now. Neither is big brother. I mean, I know he's here somewhere watching us, I just don't know where." She thought for a moment. "What do you suppose he'll give as his excuse for being late this time?"

X hemmed and hawed. _"Well, I'd suppose that he would use the classic 'road of life' excuse."_

Zero shook in lieu of shaking his head. _"No, he'll probably use the black cat across his path one."_

They were interrupted by their blonde partner. "Well, we're about to find out. Here he comes."

~NZX~

"Hello my cute little genin."

Sakura turned on Kakashi as he walked up. "YOU'RE LATE!"

Kakashi shrugged. "Sorry, I got lost on the road of life."

~NZX~

"_DAMMIT!"_

~NZX~

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Well, now that we're all here, let's begin the test, shall we?"

"But sensei, that blonde idiot isn't here yet!"

"Who?"

"Naruto, obviously."

Kakashi's eye narrowed dangerously. "Sakura, don't belittle your teammates. It reflects badly upon you." He held up a hand, forestalling any protests. "Besides, she got here before you."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow impassively while Sakura protested violently. "What? No she didn't! She's not here!"

"Really?" Kakashi grinned under his mask. "Then who's that up there?"

"What?" Sakura turned around and followed Kakashi's gaze, seeing a certain blonde sitting in a tall tree, two small objects, one red and one blue, orbiting around her.

Naruto smiled and waved at her teammates and sensei. "So, shall we join them?"

X floated into Naruto's left hand. _"Certainly."_

"_Eh, why not."_ Zero hovered into his chosen's right palm. Smiling, Naruto body flickered down to the ground with a burst of blue light, making Sakura jump in surprise.

Kakashi smiled. "As I was saying, now that we're all here, this is how the test is going to be." He pulled out an old alarm clock, one of the round ones with a pair of bells on top that would be rung by a small hammer, and placed it on a stump by three training posts. He then held up two small bells on ribbons, the kind one might find on a pet collar. "I have two bells. You have an hour to get one. Anybody who doesn't get a bell by the time the alarm goes off will fail and go back to the academy." Kakashi started the clock. "Go."

Sasuke and Sakura dashed off to hide in the trees, leaving Naruto and Kakashi facing off. With a devious smile, Naruto drew her ZX-Saber and ignited the blade.

~NZX~

Underneath a nearby bush, Sasuke watched the fight with amazement, though he'd never admit it. He watched as Kakashi ducked and dodged a series of blitzing, though clumsy, sword slices. There was skill there, but it was awkward, like Naruto wasn't use to her weapon yet.

"Yeah, I've been using that thing for about a week now, and I'm still trying to get used to the weight difference between the ZX-Saber and a regular katana."

Sasuke jumped. Looking to his left he saw Naruto watching the fight next to him. He looked at the fight, then at Naruto, then back to the fight. "How…?"

Naruto smiled at him. "Shadow clone."

Sasuke blinked. That was definitely something that would make him strong enough to take on Itachi. He still had nightmares of what his brother did to their family. "Teach me."

Naruto shook her head. "Can't. It is a forbidden technique for a reason. I'm only allowed to use it because of my stupidly high chakra reserves." She looked aside at Sasuke. "I have a plan to get a bell for everyone. We just need to work together."

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm an Uchiha, I don't need help!" At that moment, Naruto's clone was 'killed,' and Sasuke leapt out of the bush to launch his own attack against Kakashi.

~NZX~

Kakashi blinked as his fist went through Naruto, who promptly turned into a cloud of smoke with a quiet bang. _'I didn't even notice her make a clone. She is improving.'_

"Kakashi! I am your opponent now!"

Kakashi turned to face Sasuke as he leapt out of a bush. He blinked as the genin ran through hand seals. _'A fire technique? A genin shouldn't have enough chakra for—holy crap!'_

"FIRE RELEASE: GRAND FIREBALL JUTSU!"

A decent sized fireball leapt from Sasuke's mouth, exploding around where Kakashi had been standing. Sasuke's eyes widened as the smoke cleared to reveal no one there. Frantically, he looked around. _'He's not in front, behind or to the sides. Above me?'_ Sasuke's musings were cut short as a pair of hands burst out of the dirt and grabbed his ankles. "Wha-?"

"EARTH RELEASE: DOUBLE SUICIDE DECAPITATION JUTSU!" Sasuke suddenly found himself buried up to his neck in the ground as Kakashi pulled himself up from the dirt himself. Ignoring the cursing Uchiha, Kakashi pulled out an orange book as he went to find another student to _test_.

~NZX~

Naruto sighed as Sakura screamed bloody murder and passed out upon being placed under a genjutsu by their sensei. _'I thought she was supposed to be good with genjutsus?'_ Not a minute earlier had Sakura shot down working together, before Naruto could even ask, and ran off shouting for 'her Sasuke' to find her.

Emerging from her hiding place once Kakashi was gone, Naruto went to Sakura and woke her up. Rolling over, Sakura found herself looking Naruto in the eye. "Look, if you're trying to get Sasuke, he really only values strength. You running around expecting him to save you all the time is just going to alienate him. But if you show enough strength, you might just impress him." Naruto held up a hand as Sakura opened her mouth to speak. "Just so you know, I have absolutely no interest in duck-butt, at all, so I'm not trying to steal him or anything, if that's what you're going to ask. So, you ready to listen to my plan?"

"Fine, but if I don't like it, I'm not working with you."

Nodding, Naruto helped Sakura to her feet before motioning to her to follow. "I think Sasuke's this way."

It wasn't long before Naruto and Sakura found Sasuke. He looked at them. "Hey."

"IEEEEE! SASUKE'S JUST A HEAD!" Naruto face palmed as Sakura passed out again.

"Honestly, she's supposed to have been the smartest one in our class." She looked to Sasuke. "I just don't see it. So, ready to work together?"

Sasuke scowled. "I don't need help."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow. _'Is he serious?'_

"_It seems so."_

"_I know I was cocky, but even I knew when I needed help. Maybe a demonstration…?"_

Nodding, to Sasuke's slight confusion, Naruto collected a few loose branches lying around on the ground. She held one about a centimeter thick up for Sasuke to see. "This is Kakashi." She placed the stick so that both ends rested on a pair of low stumps. She then held up a stick that was only half the thickness of the first. "And this is you." Naruto then swung the stick down onto the 'Kakashi' stick. The 'Sasuke' stick broke.

Naruto held up a new stick for Sasuke, the same thickness as the last. "This is you again." She then held up two more sticks identical to the 'Sasuke' stick. "And these are me and Sakura." Naruto held all three stick and swung them down on the 'Kakashi' stick, breaking that stick. She then held up the three unbroken sticks. "Together, we can do what one cannot. So, ready to listen?"

Sasuke grumbled. Sure, he could argue, but he wouldn't win. _'I guess she's not as useless as I thought.'_ "Fine, get me out."

Naruto smiled, making two shadow clones to dig up Sasuke while the original woke up Sakura…again. Once the two were back up and ready, Naruto pulled them in close. "Okay, so here's what we're going to do…"

~NZX~

Kakashi looked up from his reading briefly as a shadow clone sent back its memories. _'So, she managed to get them to work together. Wonder what they'll do?_' He turned a page in his precious orange book, giggling perversely. _'Oh, Yuna, you naughty, naughty girl you—YIKES!'_ Kakashi jumped backwards as a fireball roared by his face. Trying to put his book away, Kakashi was interrupted by a fusillade of shuriken and kunai, before having to dodge several yellow balls of crackling energy. Every time he tried to put his book away safely to deal with the three genin attacking him, an attack always forced Kakashi to stop and dodge instead. Unwilling to risk damaging his favorite book, Kakashi was forced on the defensive.

Naruto shot another volley of buster shots at Kakashi's feet. _'Trying not to hit a target is a lot harder than I thought it would be.'_

"_You know, you could lower the power of the ZX-Buster's shots to stun instead of kill, right?"_

Naruto swore she could feel Zero facepalm within her mindscape. _"Really? You couldn't have said anything thing earlier?"_

"_I forgot. I noticed you never said anything about it."_

"_I didn't even know we could do that!"_

'_Boys, as much as I'd like to come in there and give you a piece of my mind, can we please get to how to set the Buster to stun?'_

She could feel X's sheepishness in her head. _"Sorry. …and there you go. I'll just take care of that automatically from now on."_

"_I swear, for someone as smart and wise as you supposedly are, you do some really stupid things sometimes…"_

Naruto tuned out the argument between her two partners as she powered up a charge shot. Smiling wolfishly, she let rip right as Kakashi managed to finally put his book away. She cackled gleefully at the 'oh shit!' look on her surrogate big brother's face as the charge shot sent him into la-la land.

~NZX~

Groaning, Kakashi opened his eye to find Naruto leaning over him as two bells dangled from her hand. "Very good Naruto, but who will you choose to stay, and who will go?"

Smiling sweetly, perhaps too sweetly, Naruto tossed a bell to Sakura and Sasuke, respectively. Kakashi blinked. "You do realize that means you fail, right Naruto?"

Naruto's shit-eating grin got bigger. "'Kashi, you only said we had to get a bell. You never said we had to hang onto it."

Kakashi blinked. "Well I'll be darned. So I did. Looks like you all pass." Getting to his feet stiffly, Kakashi had to stifle a groan. "Alright, meet here tomorrow morning at eight. *Oof.* Later." Kakashi body-flickered away in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto made to go as well, but a word from Sakura made her stop.

"Yes?"

Sakura played with the hem of her battle dress. "Can, can you help me get stronger?"

Naruto blinked. She had not expected that at all. "Um, sure, I can. I can guarantee you won't like me afterwards though. You still want to do it?"

Sakura nodded. "Alright, then meet me here early at seven then." Naruto noticed Sasuke walking off with his hands in his pockets. "Hey Sasuke, you know, the stronger your team is, the less they'll 'hold you back.'"

Sasuke paused for a moment, not looking back. "I'll see if there's any jutsus in my clan library you two can use." Not even waiting for a response, Sasuke walked away. Naruto smiled though. Getting Sasuke to help, even in that small way, was a big victory towards getting him to drop his whole revenge at any cost vibe he was giving off. And something told Naruto, the sooner that happened, the better. Smiling sweetly, Naruto turned to Sakura.

"Okay, let's start your training with a few laps." A shiver went down Sakura's spine. Why did she feel like she had made a terrible mistake?

~NZX~

"Team 1, fails. Recommend return to the academy."

"Team 2, fails. How'd I even end up with three fangirls anyways? No, scratch that, how'd they even pass the academy?"

"Team 3, couldn't even find the training ground."

"Team 4, fails."

"Team 5, ran away screaming after running into Anko. I think her stories have scarred them for life. I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped out of the ninja corps."

"Team 6, two sent themselves to the hospital and the third knocked herself out when she ran into a tree."

"Team 8, pass."

"Team 10, passed, though teamwork needs a lot of work."

At that moment Kakashi body-flickered into the meeting room looking singed and battered. "Team 7…pass."

Asuma Sarutobi, son of the Third Hokage and jounin sensei to Team 10 blinked, the cigarette in his mouth dropping from his mouth in disbelief. "You actually passed a team? How on earth did they pass?"

"They worked together, even without realizing the true meaning behind the test, and managed to knock me out. They then used my own words and phrasing against me to pass."

Kurenai Yuuhi, a fresh jounin and sensei to Team 8, nodded. "Wow, the Uchiha is better than I thought."

Kakashi coughed up a black cloud of soot. "No, it wasn't Sasuke, it was Naruto."

One of the jounin present blinked. "Seriously, that de-erm, little girl beat you?"

Kakashi nodded. "She managed to convince her teammates to work together, then made a plan. She was the one to knock me out." He rubbed the back of his neck. "She then gave the two bells to her teammates and told me that I never said they had to _keep_ the bells."

A jounin snorted. "Impossible. How could a dead last like her do better than the Rookie of the Year?"

"She wasn't a dead last, Omoi. She was a runner up for Kunoichi of the Year. Besides, I suspect her early poor scores were due to bias from the teaching staff at the academy, since her grades didn't improve until she was taught by Iruka Umino."

The Third Hokage nodded, staving off any more conversation. "I'll keep that in mind. I have been planning to audit the teachers and instructors for some time. The recent business with Mizuki and your suspicions have been the last straw. But for now, everyone is dismissed. Missions start next week, so take the time to begin training your teams now, those whose teams passed. The rest of you, report to the missions' office tomorrow for reassignment. That is all."

Presenting bows and salutes, the assembled jounin took their leave.

~NZX~

"C'mon, Sakura, you'll never get better if you don't keep up!"

Sakura bent over, hand on her knees as she fought for breath. Looking up, she watched Naruto running in place, watching her. _'How is she not tired, we've been running for an hour straight!'_ Breathing hard, Sakura began to run after Naruto once more. _'What on earth did I get myself into? She's going to be the death of me!'_

"C'mon Sakura, only ten more laps of the village to go."

Panting, Sakura managed to mumble under her breath. "At least it can't get any worse than this."

"WHAT A YOUTHFUL SIGHT! TWO BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAIDENS FANNING THEIR FLAMES OF YOUTH!" Naruto and Sakura turned to see a tall, muscular man in green spandex, a jounin vest and orange leg warmers with black, bowl-cut hair smiling at them, his teeth gleaming and enormous eyebrows wiggling as he gave them a thumbs-up.

"OH SWEET KAMI! RUN SAKURA! RUN IF YOU VALUE YOUR SANITY!"

"MY EYES! IT BURNS!"

Might Guy was left scratching his head as the two freshly made genin disappeared in two twin trails of dust. "Was it something I said?"


End file.
